Selasa, 28 Februari 2012

While the concept of such an elevator has been
described in science fiction novels, the construction has become
possible after the 1991 discovery of carbon nanotube, a lightweight
material more than 20 times stronger than steel, the company said.

Under the plan announced this week, the
company will build an orbital station at an altitude of 36,000 km, a
final destination for space travelers and housing experimental and
development facilities utilizing the space environment.

A six-car elevator, expected to travel at a speed
of 200 kph, will be capable of carrying 30 people and will take about
seven and a half days to arrive at the orbital station.

According to the company, construction work
will start around 2025. A rocket will be launched to transport two
reeled cables using carbon nanotube and other materials to an altitude
of about 300 km, where a space ship will be assembled.

The space ship will unreel the cables toward
Earth, while continue soaring to the summit of 96,000 km, which is about
one-quarter the distance from Earth to the moon, Obayashi said.

Then the cables will be reinforced from the
ground using elevator cars, which will ascend to the summit. The
reinforcement work will be conducted 510 times, the company said.

The elevator will be powered partly by electricity generated by solar power from space, the company said.

The company at present cannot calculate how
much money would be needed to construct the space elevator and there
would be some hurdles, such as where to build it, said Satomi Katsuyama,
leader of the company's space elevator project.

"But we'd like to realize the project, as it will greatly save on costs for space development in the future," she said.

Minggu, 19 Februari 2012

Animation studio Bones has released an official trailer for the upcoming TV series, ｢Eureka Seven AO｣. Its broadcast is slated to begin on April 12th on MBS.*Synopsis:

The story is set on Okinawa’s isolated island of Iwado,
which has seen a growing movement advocating a return to an autonomous
government. Ao Fukai, a 13-year-old boy with a missing father, lives on
the island with an old doctor named Toshio and is about to enter middle
school. Ao’s mother was taken away a decade ago by unknown individuals.
Naru Arata, Ao’s 13-year-old childhood friend and the story’s heroine,
lives with her father, older sister, and grandmother. She has a “Yuta”
power awakened within her due to an incident when she was young.
A mysterious entity called “Secret” suddenly appears and launches an
attack on the Scub Coral lifeform on the island. Ao launches a certain
military FP called “Nirvash” aboard a Japanese military transport in his
fervent desire to protect the island.

Selasa, 14 Februari 2012

In the November 5th issue of Shūkan Tōyō Keizai, which goes
on sale Monday in Japan, a special report looks at the balancing act
between quality and cost in the Japanese entertainment industry. The
anime section of it breaks down the expenses associated with producing a
TV anime series. So how much does one episode cost to make?

According to an investigation by Media Development Research Institute
Inc., a 30 minute episode of a TV anime in 2010 that totaled 11,000,000
yen (about US $145,214 at the current exchange rate) consisted of the following expenses:

(Note: All US dollar conversions are approximate based on current exchange rate.)

If you suppose an average episode has 5,000 frames, the price per
frame for an in-betweener is 220 yen or just under three bucks, which
apparently is a rate that hasn't really changed much in the past 30
years. Japan Animation Creators Association rep, Osamu Yamasaki,
commented [roughly translated], "30 years ago it was said that one
person would draw 1,000 frames per month, but now if you can do 500,
that's considered good." Under these circumstances, it's no wonder young
animators are having trouble making it in the industry.

The article also has a comment from producer Tomohiko Ishii of Production I.G., whose full CG film 009 RE:CYBORG is coming to theaters
in the fall of next year: "Japanese people like hand-drawn animation.
Realistic CG like they produce in Hollywood doesn't sell in
Japan." Currently CG costs more than hand-drawn animation, but it's
expected in the future that it will be cheaper and faster. The idea is
not to completely do away with hand-drawings, since character design and
CG modeling still have to be done by artists...

Personally, I'm not sure I see how making animation cheaper and
faster addresses the issue of low wages for artists, but our source for
this post, Japanimate, seems to think there is some hope. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Sabtu, 11 Februari 2012

Earlier today, Kadokawa released a 2-minute trailer for the upcoming ｢Strike Witches｣ film. You may find it after the cut.
The movie will premiere in Japanese theatres March 17th.*Synopsis:

In 1945, Yoshika Miyafuji, who lost her witch powers
during the Strike Witches’ last assignment, has been studying to become a
doctor. Shizuka Hattori, one of her cadets in the Imperial Fuso Navy,
then arrives to deliver a message: Yoshika is to be transferred for
study abroad in Europe.